Tim Minear Interview in New York Times (Mentions Firefly, Wonderfalls) by mo1962

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Tim Minear Interview in New York Times (Mentions Firefly, Wonderfalls)

POSTED BY: MO1962
UPDATED: Sunday, April 18, 2004 06:29
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Saturday, April 17, 2004 5:45 PM

MO1962

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/18/arts/television/18NUSS.html

Same Night, Same Channel, Same Giant Bummer

Published: April 18, 2004

To fans of the WB's recently canceled "Angel," the writer Tim Minear is known affectionately as the Tim Reaper: the master of the fatal plot twist. But most recently, he's been on the other side of the scythe — helming two acclaimed hourlong dramas in two seasons, only to see each canceled before it had much of a chance to win an audience. In 2002, he was an executive producer on the Fox space western "Firefly" along with its creator, Joss Whedon — only to see their series scheduled in the "Friday night death slot," broadcast out of order, then axed. This season, Mr. Minear took on another quirky one-hour drama for Fox: "Wonderfalls," starring Caroline Dhavernas as a disaffected Niagara Falls tourist shop clerk guided by tchotchkes. "Wonderfalls" was dropped after only four episodes, despite being one of the best-reviewed shows of the current season. A rerun of "The Swan" took its place.

Mr. Minear has been vocal about the cancellation, finishing one frustrated account online with the comment: "There's a whole 'nother half of this post . . . but I deleted it. Twice burned, me." Emily Nussbaum spoke with Mr. Minear on the phone about the squeeze on scripted shows.

EMILY NUSSBAUM So what happened with "Wonderfalls"?

TIM MINEAR Well, what happened is — nobody watched. And so they pulled it.

NUSSBAUM How did you get involved initially?

MINEAR Doesn't it seem like just yesterday that I was walking onto the set of "Firefly"? When it was canceled, I came back and did the "Angel" finale. But by then, whatever power vacuum had been created by my leaving had been filled. And I had this deal with Fox, they're sending me scripts, and one of them was "Wonderfalls." They kept hammering me about it: the network, the studio, and the producers, Bryan Fuller and Todd Holland. They sent me the pilot, I met with them. Cheap date that I am, they told me I was pretty and smelled good.

NUSSBAUM You're the Ado Annie of television?

MINEAR Exactly. It felt to me like it was special. The show was really funny, really smart, and there were no vampires.

NUSSBAUM Why was the network so high on it in the beginning?

MINEAR Well, I think what they saw was an opportunity to capture the old "Ally McBeal" audience, to be honest. And one of the things that surprised them was that "Wonderfalls" tested horribly with women. Men liked it. So they were like, Huh? But of course, one must keep in mind — and I'm sure they kept this in mind — quirky shows like this, like "Malcolm in the Middle," always test poorly. They need time to build an audience.

NUSSBAUM Running four episodes doesn't seem like giving it much of a chance.

MINEAR Well, by the time we were on the air, the love affair had ended. Otherwise we never would have been put on Friday nights.

NUSSBAUM The same night "Firefly" had been on — after that disaster, why go with the same network?

MINEAR Because it did feel different. And I thought it would raise my stock around town to be one of the forces behind this smart, well-reviewed show. I was convinced it would be reviewed well — although I did not expect how well!

NUSSBAUM Why is it so hard to keep anything original on network television?

MINEAR I wish I were sage enough to answer. I don't want to be one of those "hour" guys who is all bitter about reality TV. It's as viable as any other genre — when it's great, it's great. However! Reality does a certain thing. It burns quickly, brightly, and then it burns out. You can't repeat them.

NUSSBAUM They're so cheap to make; it's not a gamble, even if it flops.

MINEAR The slot machine of television. Keep feeding in the quarters, and eventually you'll hit the jackpot. But if a network like Fox can't nurture and properly launch a scripted hour — it's becoming the network that develops interesting programming, then drops it. The network where I don't want to watch what's cool, because my heart will be broken.

NUSSBAUM Where does that leave you as a TV creator?

MINEAR That's the question I am now asking myself. I am ready. I have now made my bones. I've worked with great people, proven that I can run a show, and it's time for me to create my own. Well, you know — it seems like a really weird time to try to do that.

NUSSBAUM Are you angry with Fox?

MINEAR I was more angry about "Firefly." In this case, I came in to help these two guys, I wrote a lot of the material, and I'm just too tired to be mad. It's hard to be mad when they pay you this much money. And I don't want to whine. But after they scheduled it on Friday nights, I was like: "Friday nights! That's where we're promoting our 13-episode DVD."

NUSSBAUM You prepped deliberately for a DVD?

MINEAR I did. You always work with the notion that you're trying to get picked up — but I had very little faith in the network, so I looked at it as a complete 13. I wasn't just going episode to episode.

NUSSBAUM What's your favorite moment that didn't get to air?

MINEAR There's so many. In "Lying Pig," the way Caroline Dhavernas transmits emotional pain. When her heart breaks, it just kills you. I broke all the episodes like I was breaking an `Angel' — with great act breaks, giant gut-wrenching, gut-kicking endings.

NUSSBAUM This is a depressing conversation.

MINEAR You know, if you position the thing to fail it's going to fail. Something like this has to be positioned carefully, because it's so odd. And it's like, "Look, more proof that something odd can't survive" — when you have your hands around its throat.

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Sunday, April 18, 2004 3:47 AM

ECMORGAN69

It's enough to make you want to cry. I've just about had it with network TV, especially the dung-flinging monkeys at FOX TV. If ind I'm more entertained by the Internet anyway

They can have my "Firefly" DVDs when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers....

Oh yeah,

you, FOX TV!!

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Sunday, April 18, 2004 6:29 AM

TIMBEISHIR

I don't know if this has been posted already, but there are a couple recent radio interviews also that you can find links to at timminear.net where he talks about both Firefly and Wonderfalls.

-Use of a swhat?

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